iBeacon Coming to a Grocery Store Near You

News

//January 10, 2014

Last month Apple introduced iBeacon into all off their stores. This is a unit that tracks your location in the store and feeds information into your mobile device, based upon what you are near. It looks like this month they are being introduced into several grocery stores.

The advertiser, InMarket, activated iBeacon sensors in Giant Eagle and Safeway stores in Cleveland, Seattle and San Francisco. Customers must have the loyalty app activated on their iPhones for the checkpoints to work. When a customer, with the installed app, is range of the transmitter their phone will receive marketing information such as coupons, discount offers and recipes.

InMarket CEO, Todd Dipaola told Appleinsider that “This has the potential to disrupt the retail experience as we know it. Think about all of the benefits of online shopping, but applied to the real world. Shopping list reminders, specific coupons tailored to things you like, eventually mobile checkout. We’re in the top of the first inning right now with iBeacon, so the possibilities are very exciting.”

The marketing advertiser will continue activation of the iBeacon in over 100 grocery stores over the next several weeks with plans to have thousands of beacons in over over 20 of the top markets by the end of 2014.

The current system targets customers as they enter the store, however there is testing underway for a in-aisle beacon as well.

InMarket isn’t the first to use the iBeacon to target customers. In November Macy’s and their marketing partner Shopkick introduced it into their main New York and San Francisco locations. Exact Editions, a small startup company, has been using the transmitters to push free magazine samples.